Outbreak of fire whose source is yet to be identified, today sent the nation’s minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau packing out of his office in the sixth floor of the federal secretariat, phase three.
Eye witnesses said that the fire started at about 1.45 Pm at the time the Minister of Education, was holding meeting with Principals of Unity Schools from across the country but that the meeting ended abruptly as the minister and other officials were immediately evacuated from the building.
The fire affected mainly the 5th and 6th floors of phase three of the secretariat.
A combined team of Federal Fire Service and FCT Fire Service battled the fire and was put off after two hours, even as the Public Relations Officer of the Federal Fire Service, Collins Elechi confirmed that there were no casualties in the incident.
“We cannot ascertain the cause of the fire now until later. It started from the 5th floor and remained between it and the 6th floor.
“As you can see, the fire has been put off, we curtailed it from spreading to adjourning property,’’ Elechi said.
He stressed the need for a functional hydrant in the building, adding: “we could not see one; we are not of course indicting the occupants of this building, but that is one of the challenges we met,’’ he said.
The Research and Rescue Officer of the National Emergency Management Agency, Also, Mr Labaran Haman, said that investigation to determine the cause of the fire was ongoing.
Hamman said that rescue teams including NEMA and fire servicemen responded swiftly but had problem controlling the crowd.
Files, furniture and other office equipment were destroyed by the fire.
[myad]
